Movie Review: Kismat Love Paisa Dilli

What’s not: Unlike Ek Chalis Ki Last Local that had crazy yet credible characters and an unpredictable and riveting narrative, this one is not only flawed with loopholes galore, but you also lose interest in the proceedings soon enough.

iDiva verdict: Over ‘love’ for cinema, this film seems to be made with ‘paisa’ considerations. Alas too much can’t be left on ‘kismat’. KLPD is a letdown in ‘capital’ letters!

Almost half a decade back, writer-director Sanjay Khanduri made his debut with Ek Chalis Ki Last Local which might not have been a box-office blockbuster but went on to become a cult film for its contemporary crime-comedy concept and offbeat storytelling. One strongly expects he would raise the bar in its thematic sequel Kismat Love Paisa Dilli but is sorely disappointed with the downgraded derivative.

The basic design remains the same with a boy and girl being stranded on city streets on a lonely night. Just the setting is switched from Mumbai to Delhi and so Lokesh (Vivek Oberoi) and Lovina (Mallika Sherawat) miss the last Metro. With Delhi notorious for being unsafe for most civilians, one expects it to make a potential backdrop for this film’s motif. Unfortunately all that we encounter in this one-night chronicle are some ludicrous characters and a lame political conspiracy.

There is a don (Ashutosh Rana) who is on a mission to complete his century of slapping random people on his birthday. He also maintains a scrapbook with pictures of his victims, to keep a count. Then there is a pizza delivery boy (Anshuman Jha) who goes on a strange spree of biting off people’s ears when he doesn’t get paid. Gays aren’t spared of the Bollywood stereotype and are shown as creatures who are desperate to rape the male species. Amidst all this the supposed central track of a politician’s sting operation never registers, neither do you care for it.

Unlike Ek Chalis Ki Last Local that had crazy yet credible characters and an unpredictable and riveting narrative, this one is not only flawed with loopholes galore, but you also lose interest in the proceedings soon enough. Also Khanduri makes no effort to revise Mallika Sherawat’s covert character which is almost a replica of Neha Dhupia’s character from the prequel. All intentions of the film to surprise you with any twists whatsoever is old-school and juvenile. It doesn’t even generate a fraction of the anticipation and excitement that the prequel offered. Regardless of its comparisons with the prequel, the sequel doesn’t work as a standalone film either.

There are repeated shots of half-naked men and all of them (including Vivek Oberoi) are utterly repulsive. Ironically, Mallika Sherawat largely remains in her clothes. Surprisingly she is made to emote!!! If stripping wasn’t enough, there are spitting, slapping and peeing revulsion as well.

Vivek Oberoi is animated in his expressions and his Delhi lingo seems a pretentious put-on. Mallika Sherawat never had acting appeal and even lacks sex appeal here. Anshuman Jha as the literally ‘earsplitting’ character is irritating. And when Ashutosh Rana doesn’t die even after taking dozen bullets on his body, you feel like killing him.

Perhaps the makers decided to cash in on the cult status of the prequel and formulated the second episode in desperation. But the effort is noticeably artificial and thereby the product is patchy.

Over ‘love’ for cinema, this film seems to be made with ‘paisa’ considerations. Alas too much can’t be left on ‘kismat’. KLPD is a letdown in ‘capital’ letters!